Resilient clip for retaining hubcaps to wheels



Aug. '5, 1952 c. o. SLEMMONS RESILIENT CLIP FOR RETAINING HUBCAPS TOWHEELS Filed July 5. 1949 INVENTOR. BY awmm ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 5, 1952 RESILIENT CLIP FOR RETAINING HUBCAI S TO WHEELSICharles 0. Slemmons, South Bend, Ind., assignor .to' The StudebakerCorporation, South Bend, 1nd,, a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJuly 5, 1949, Stan-st. 103,025

Y i rlc a im.

' My invention relates to spring metal clip bands for retaininghub capsto the wheels ofmo'wr' vehicles or the like.

Heretofore, it has been the practice for retain-' securing the cliptothe disc of the Wheel .must

be removed, as by a small punch and hammer, before a new clip may be.substituted and the new clip must be either riveted or bolted to thewheel disc which requires the removal of the wheel and tire from thehub.

It is an object of my invention to .provide a spring metal clip forretaining a hub cap to the mounting flange of a wheel of a characterthat is adapted to be self securing to thedisc of the wheel.

Itis another objectof my invention to provide a spring metal clip, ofthe character noted,

which is adapted to be disposed in an opening formed in the wheel .discwithout the em lo ment of tools. Y

It is a furtherobject of my, invention to provide a clip, of thecharacter noted, thatis adapted to be easily removed from a wheel disc,without the employment of any special tools, other than av conyentiona1screwdriver, if a portion of the clip should crack or break while invservice.

It is a still further object of myinvention to provide a clip that isadapted to be disposed in an opening formed in a wheel disc, without theemployment of tools, as a replacement for a broken; or old clip whichhas previously been removed from the opening.

It isfla still further object of provide. a clip, of the characternoted,.which is adapted to reduce to a minimum the axial thrust that is,required to secure a hub capto the disc ofawheel flange.

It is a still further object of myinvention to provide a clip, of thecharacter noted, that is adapted tov resist the accidental release ofahub cap due to. thrust applied substantially radially as. for exampleby road shock, to the hub cap while it is secured to a wheel.

Now, in order to acquaint those skilled in the .my invention to (Cl.24%259) art with the manner I a spring metal clip of my presentinvention, I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawingsa preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing: 1 Figure 1 is an elevational view of a conventionalvehicle wheel with the tire thereon shown in dotted outline, a hub capin assembled position in which a portion of the wheel and hub cap isbroken away and shown in section, and showing in section the springmetal clip of my invention under compression for retaining thecircumferential bead of the'hub cap in assembled 5'position on the discportion of the wheel;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the broken away portionofthewheel ofFigure l with the hub cap disassembled and in juxtaposition of thewheel, and with the clip of my invention in its assembled position onthe wheel; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of'the spring metal clip of myinvention.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a wheel 5 having a tire 6illustrated in dotted outline, 'mounted in the conventional manner onthe rim 1 of the wheel 5. The wheel 5 is mounted at the end of an axleby. known conventional means indicated generally at 8.

The wheel 5 comprises an outer disc or flange -"portion,.9 which has"formed in spaced circumferential relation a plurality of substantiallyrectangular openings or slots ill of which only one is shown, which areeach adapted to receive the" outer free end portions or forward ends ofa spring metal clip I I of my invention. i

Referring now to Figure 3, it will be seen that'the clip I l of myinvention is formed from a substantially rectangular strip, of springmetal, folded reentrantly intermediate its ends to form an externalportion distinguished by a curvilinear. closed bottom end defined by acurved bight portion l2 having a pair of substantially parallel innerand outer spring arm portions [3 and lt, respectively, extendingobliquely and in 5 wardly therefrom. The upper end of armj' His formedwithv an inwardly extending round-,

ed shoulder portion- [5 which forms an acute angle with the outer arm l4andas will later appear in greater detail is adapted to engage theinside of thecircumferential bead Hi of a hub cap, indicated generallyby the reference;

numeral l'l. Extending-inwardly of the shoul der portion I5 and theinnerarm portion 13 are a pair of substantially parallel outer and innerleg portions 18 and'l9, respectively, which are of constructing and:using 3 adapted to engage the inner edges of a rectangular slot informed in the wheel flange 9. The two legs are bent in an obtuse angularrelation with respect to the arms I3 and M. At the upper end of the legportion [9 is formed a reentrantly rounded inner shoulder portion 20.Extending upwardly and obliquely from the shoulder portion 20 and thelegportion 18 are a pair of parallel inner and outer finger portions 2!and 22, respectively. The outer or free end of the finger 22 is rolledinwardly to define a planar flange portion 23 which is formedsubstantially at right. angles with finger 22 and adapted to act as astop means for the free or outer end of the finger 2!, by virtue of itsoverhanging relation there-- with, when the clip H is placed incompression by mounting of a hub cap thereon as shown in Figure 1.

The external portion of clip ll extendingfrom .the central part of theleg portion 13 to the central part of the arm portion 53 including theshoulder portionlc, the arm portion M, and the bight. portion- 12 hasits edgesprojecting laterally beyond the edges of the remaining orinternal portion of the clip H, as shown in Figure 3 so that thenarrowed internal portion thereof will. register with the slottedopening in the wheel disc and the wider external portion of the clipwill abut the outer surface of the disc to' locate thev clip properly.

The clip H' is adapted to be assembled to the wheel flange Q'bycompressing the sides ofthe clip I l and inserting the internal portionthereof defined, as noted, by the finger portions or free ends 2| and 22and shoulder portion 20 through.

the opening formed in the wheel flange 9. The clip is then releasedallowing the sides to spring outwardly with. the outwardly facing sidesof leg portions I8 and I9 making contact with the inner edges of theopening ILL. The external portion of the clip H extending laterallybeyond the edges of the narrower internal portion of the clip acts tolimit the distance to which the clip I i may be inserted into theopening it) of the wheel disc or flange 9 thereby serving as a locatingmeans.. The clip 1 l' in the, position just described is shown in Figure2.' It will also be noted that the obliquely extending outer arm portion[4 of theclip ll serves as a cam surface lying in an' 'inclined planealong which the bead [6' of the hub. cap H is adapted'tof slide when thehub cap Fiflis. being, placed by axial movement thereof into positionabutting the wheel disc or flange 9. 'The surface T materially reducesthe'axi'al thrust requiredto mount the hub cap to the wheel. 7 f I Whenhub cap ii is assembled. on the wheel the bead [6 of the hub cap I'Ifisadapted-toseatbetweenthe disc or flange 9 and the rounded shoulderportions E5 of each of the plurality of clips I]. The ,hub cap 11in thepositiondescribed is shown in Figure l. The head portion: Hi exertsinward radial pressure on the outer shoulder portion 15 which puts theclip under compression so that it retains the hub cap 11 to the Wheel 5.'lNhen the clip is fully compressed, the free end of. finger. 2 abutsagainst the-flange 23 at the free end offinger-ZZ, thus acting to keepthe finger 22- from being pulled through the opening. HI when the beadI6 of the hub cap Hengages the shoulder portion l5 of the clip H. Thecontact of finger 2| with stop fiange '23 reduces the tendency of theinternal portion ofthe clip llv extending inside of the opening. [.0from deformingto ashape other than the shape above described to give theclip additional rigidity against further deformation. By virtue of thisconstruction the application, for example, of thrust appliedsubstantially radially as may be caused by the hub cap striking a curbor by a shock load caused by the wheel striking a road obstruction suchas a hole in the road surface, does not dislodge the hub cap from theclips, but in efiect actually increases the spring rate of the clips soas to retain securely the hub in assembled position; this by virtue ofthe upper end of finger 22 coming into abutment with the stop flange 23.It will be seen then, the clip of I my present invention willsubstantially eliminate the accidental release of hub caps due to radialblows applied thereto. The shoulder portion is provided to keep thefinger 2i from being pulled through the opening [B when the bead I6 ofthe hub cap I! engages the shoulder portion 45 of the clip II.

The clip ll may beeasily removed from the opening [0 formed in the wheelfiange 9 by simply disposing the blade of a screw driver, or similartool, between the arm portion l3 of the clip H and: the; adiacentpa-rtof the wheel flange 9 and maneuvering the same, in such a manner as toretract-the shoulderportionZll andthe fingers 2| and; 2-2 from. theopening: I 0.

n will be noted that thespring metal clip bands H may be initiallysecured to thewheel flange 9' without theuseof: tools and if. the clipsbecome.

cracked or brokenwhile in service, the. remaining, portions may beeasily. removed as with the aid;

of a.- screw; driverand. replacement clips. substituted: therefor,without the use. of toolsand without removing the Wh8811fI'OII1 the hub.

While I have shown what I consider to be a preferred embodiment-of myinvention, it will be understood that various modifications may be madetherein without departing from the spiritand scope of my invention.-

1 claim 'A detachablespring metal clip insertableina rectangular slottedopening formed in a disc portion of a wheel for detachably mounting'anout-y wardly concaved hub cap, having a beaded perimeter, tothewheeldisc, comprising, a substantially rectangular strip of springmetalfolded reen trantly back on itself to define inner andouter clipportions, said inner portion lying adjacent said disc when said clip ismounted thereto, and to provide a curvi-linear. bottom end bight portionfor said clip; a pair of planar; substantially parallel, spaced innerand outer arm' members comprising c'ontiguous oblique and inwardlydirected.continuationsof said curv'edbottom end portion; an inwardlydirected outer shoulder-portion defining and formed at the upper reachesof said outer arm member,- said outer shoulder defining a substantiallyplanar a pair oi inner and outer parallel, spacedlegpo'r tions.comprising, respectively, planar continuations of said inner arm andouter shoulder, each-- of said, legs: lying. inv obtuse angularrelation: with respect to. saidarms and being directed inwardlytherefrom, 311: inner. shoulder defining. the planar-. inward reaches ofsaidinnerleg andformed with" a reentra-nt bend to dispose-saidinner'shoulder radially inward of saidinner leg: whensaid clip:mounteditoz said. disc, said inner shoulder being 5 adapted to grip theinner surface of said disc adjacent said opening therein for purposes ofholding said clip to said disc; a pair of innerand outer parallel,spaced fingers comprising, respectively,

upper continuations of said inner shoulder and said outer leg, saidfingers lying in substantially parallel inwardly offset relation withrespect to said two arms and said inner finger having an upper free endwhich comprises the free end of said clips inner portion; and anoutwardly directed planar flange member formed at the upper end of saidouter finger so as to lie in right angular disposition therewith tooverhang said inner fingers free end whereby said clip is formed as asubstantially open loop adapted resiliently to contract and close inresponse to externally imposed thrust, said clip in its closed conditionhaving the upper free end of said inner finger in abutting engagementwith said overhanging flange thereby to limit and prevent furtherclosure of said loop and provide a substantially rigid structure.

CHARLES O. SLEMMONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Farr Jan; 30, 1934 Van Uum July6, 1937 Ambridge Sept. 28, 1937 Engholm Apr. 26, 1938 Lundberg Nov. 22,1938 Fernberg Mar. 14, 1939 Fergueson June 10, 1941 Dyresen May 12, 1942Wiley Nov. 3, 1942 Christoph May 11, 1943

